RENFREW -- There was a line-up outside of J’s Barbershop in Arnprior Wednesday, able to open after the province lifted Renfrew County out of the stay-at-home order and placed the region into the green zone.
“Way, way too long,” said Bill McClain about the length of his hair.
McClain was one of the early customers to get into J’s Barbershop Wednesday.
“I kind of prepared for the lockdown, going with a longer hair style. And you can see now that is no longer the case,” McClain said as he had the finishing touches put on his first haircut since the fall.
“We are so happy to be back again,” says Pascal Nehme, owner at J’s. “Because we’ve been sitting at home not doing anything. Every day we prayed to come back to work.”
J’s only does walk-in cuts, and with only three customers allowed inside the barbershop at a time, that meant there was always a lineup of people outside the shop ready to give Nehme their business.
“Every minute I’ll have a call, like yesterday I had around 100 calls in the day.”
Opening on Wednesday comes as a welcome relief for business owners.
Renfrew County’s medical officer of health Dr. Robert Cushman says the region earned the privilege to be one of the first three to reopen in Ontario.
“We’re delighted by that and our numbers reflect that,” says Cushman.
The Renfrew County Health Unit is currently reporting six active COVID-19 cases in the area.
“We’ve been averaging one every two days, one new case every two days for the past three weeks,” said Cushman.
Being moved into the green zone means retail stores can welcome customers back through their doors.
Despite the quick turnaround time from the province’s announcement, A Dash of Fab wasn’t going to wait any longer.
“Oh we’re so happy,” says Kaelea Runtz, owner of the Renfrew and Arnprior boutiques. “We weren’t exactly prepared for one day’s notice but we’re ecstatic. We’ve missed people, we’re excited to see people.”
Runtz says that while her stores have been getting by on online sales since the Boxing Day lockdown began, having shoppers back in the store is better for both parties.
“A lot of people want to try things on,” explains Runtz. “I just had a customer leave and she’s been wanting one of our leisure suits. She follows us one Facebook, she’s been wanting one, and she said she had to come here first day and try it on, and she got one. That is a big part of clothing.”
But with restaurants, salons, barbershops, retail outlets, cinemas, and gyms back open again, Dr. Cushman has worries about travellers coming in from outside the county.
“Certainly am concerned about that, the migration from Ottawa this weekend,” says Dr. Cushman. “This is a big weekend, it’s a three day weekend, Monday is a holiday, and Sunday is Valentine’s Day. So there’s opportunity for some mischief.”
He’s hoping businesses will recognize their local clientele, and those from outside the region won’t try to sneak in.
“Certainly next week I think Ottawa is going to open up, so Ottawa people be patient.”
